Reliable demographic data is essential for an analysis of the health situation, especially in the municipal context. In Primary Health Care (PHC), for example, immunization campaigns that generate vaccination coverage indicators lack up-to-date population data at the geographic level. In 2019, for the first time in the history of the SUS (Brazil’s Unified Health System), the Ministry of Health innovated by proposing that people monitored by family health teams could have their records validated by presenting a single identification number, the CPF (individual taxpayer number), while also checking this record against other national social benefits and social security databases. Since then, it has been possible to evaluate population-based health indicators linked to the federal transfer of resources to the PHC, such as those generated by the official statistics agencies of each country, as is the case of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).

The authors of this thematic issue - researchers, professors, health professionals and managers - present concepts, methodologies, technologies, tools and study results. All these innovations contribute to the planning and decision-making process in PHC.

We highlight the contributions of the municipality of Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul which, with the help of Fiocruz, has been developing a series of initiatives since 2019 to support the strengthening of management, with an emphasis on in-service training. The local SUS has gradually become a teaching-learning hub, attracting professionals from other municipalities in the Midwest region and from other areas of the country. The city now has a potential population coverage of family health teams of around 90%, making it the first among the capitals in its region and the fourth in the Center-South region.

Also included in the thematic issue is Portugal’s National Health System, which is a source of inspiration for dozens of capitals in Brazil when it comes to designing their medical training programs in PHC and monitoring and evaluation based on population indicators from electronic medical records.

Concepts, methods and research possibilities are presented by some of the authors who provide us with the first texts from the IBGE Demographic Census (2022). They also provide comparative perspectives and statistics that address issues such as gender, fertility, sexual and reproductive health, which are of great importance for Brazilian public health.

It is always worth remembering, as highlighted by Pinto et al.¹1 Pinto LF, Meira KC, Carvalho AA. Pesquisa Nacional de Saúde (PNS-2019): resgate da atenção primária à saúde. Editorial. Cien Saude Colet 2021; 26(9):3940., that since 2019 the Institute has reoccupied its role as the major external evaluator of the SUS, with the incorporation of specific questions on PHC attributes²2 Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE). Pesquisa Nacional de Saúde (PNS), 2019: atenção primária à saúde e informações antropométricas. Rio de Janeiro: IBGE; 2020.^,33 Brasil. Ministério da Saúde (MS). Secretaria de Atenção Primária à Saúde. Departamento de Saúde da Família. Manual do Instrumento de Avaliação da Atenção Primária à Saúde: PCATool-Brasil - 2020. Brasília: MS; 2020. and the unprecedented inclusion of the Net Promoter Score (NPS) indicator in household survey modules: the National Health Survey (PNS, 2019), the Ongoing National Household Sample Survey (PNAD-C, 2022) and the National Demographic and Health Survey (PNDS, 2023).

We hope that readers will examine the innovative experiences and proposals, and that they can contribute to the managers at all levels of the SUS in empowering health systems based on Primary Health Care.

References

Publication Dates

History